This started with a question, why do we love revenge movies, the “one man against the world” kind? What came out of it was a crazed search through cultures of honor, institutional distrust, and moral licensing research to understand the mass appeal and disdain I noticed towards the most compelling revenge stories I have encountered over the past decade. In truth, this took much longer than expected, thus the reason for the hiatus, but it feels good to be back.
This episode contains mature themes and graphic depictions of violence, viewer discretion is advised.
Full bibliography here.
Referenced articles:
Bailey & Pico (2023)
Brosig-Koch et al. (2017)
Cohen et al. (1996)
Conway & Peetz (2012)
Højberg et al. (2017)
Katyal (2022)
Khalil (2017)
Kirk & Schill (2024)
Kowal (2023)
Martin-Llaguno et al. (2022)
Monin & Miller (2001)
Park et al. (2020)
Peleg et al. (2021)
Uskul & Cross (2020)
Uskul et al. (2023)
Referenced media:
God of War (2005)
God of War 2 (2007)
John Wick (2014)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
Monkey Man (2024)
Nobody (2021)
Oldboy (2004)
Pierre Berton Show (1971)
Prisoners (2013)
Sifu (2022)
The Batman (2022)
The Last of Us Part 2 (2020)
Images:
By Mbzt - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16931676
By Istanbul Archaeology Museums - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34550484
Bungie. (2024, June 11). Halo: Reach [Digital image]. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo:_Reach
Haloprov. (n.d.). B312 [Digital image]. Halo Alpha. https://halo.fandom.com/wiki/SPARTAN-B312?file=B312.png
Music:
Hussain, Z. & Patel, D. (2024). Training [Song]. On Monkey Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Back Lot Music.
James, S. (2012). Through the Valley [Song]. On Shadows. Shawn James Music Inc.
Background music sourced from Epidemic Sound:
“Sahara Eye” by Nylonia
“Corpus” by Johannes Bornlof
“Tranquility” by Drift Far Away
“Juliana” by Nylonia
“Ghost Hunt” by Sixteen Wheelers
Also available on YouTube
Chapters
00:00 Content Warning and Disclaimers
00:37 Introduction
02:48 The Batman
06:59 What does violence do for us? (The Wolverine Effect)
12:55 Prisoners
17:20 Cultures of Honor research
24:01 Institutional distrust research
27:17 Do moral reputation and victimhood justify our actions? (The Last of Us)
32:09 Moral licensing research
38:50 Proposed directions/The big reach
41:30 Outro
